Page 16 of The Penalty

“Of course.”

“Ok, good. I’ll see you there then.”

“You’re leaving already?” she asks him.

“Yeah. First game of the season. I’ve got a lot to do. A lot of hands to shake.”

“Oh, ok.” She sounds disappointed, but Tyler must miss it. He’s about to start his game day high.

He gives her a kiss on the side of the head before turning to me. “See you on the field, McKenzie.”

“Looking forward to it, Coach.”

He grabs his hat and heads out.

SEVEN

TYLER

McKenzie’s little car is parked in front of my truck. It was too dark when I got home last night to really see it, but as I pass it this morning, I can’t help but notice that she has a ton of shit in her backseat. Like, she has enough clothes in there to last a whole semester.

College kids are weird.

Getting into my truck, I head to campus. I typically get there early for our home games, but I left the house way earlier than I normally would.

I caught myself staring at McKenzie’s legs earlier, and that is completely unacceptable. She doesn’t need an old guy like me checking her out. I don’t know what I was thinking.

Well, I plain wasn’t thinking, clearly.

Kylie asked me to be nice to her only friend. I’m not going to ruin that for her just because I think her way-too-young-for-me friend is more than slightly attractive. No, I won’t be that guy.

The parking lot by the field house is nearly empty, the only cars here likely left overnight.

When I get to my office, I review some plays again and read some recent commentary on Iowa’s team this year. McKenzie is right; Iowa looks like they’re going to have a strong team this year, but I’m still fairly confident that we can win this. If I didn’t believe in my team, I’d be a shitty coach.

Eventually, the building starts buzzing. My assistant coaches all arrive, and we get hyped for the game.

Once the players show up, we do light warmups, and then it’s go time.

I meet with the team in the locker room. Everyone is padded up and looking sharp in their black home jerseys and black pants. The team looks good, and we have the confidence to win this.

“Alright, boys. This is it. The moment we’ve been waiting for since last January. We’ve worked our asses off for this, and we deserve this win. Go out there and show them that La Vista doesn’t mess around!

“Remember, don’t do anything stupid. Follow your teammates, remember the plays, move where you need to move. You guys know this stuff and are fully capable of taking this stadium down. Let’s get out there and show them who the fuck we are.”

Everyone starts cheering and jumping. We hear the marching band start playing, and I take my spot in the front of the group and lead the team down the hallway and out through the tunnel onto the field. I let the players run past me, giving the audience a show, before heading to the sidelines.

I slip my headset on over my hat and make sure it’s working correctly. When I turn my head to make sure the team has made it to the sideline, I see McKenzie walking in my direction. She’s got a camera guy with her this time. He looks harmless, but I still don’t like the feeling I get seeing her talking and laughing with another guy.

I cut that shit out quick, though. I barely know this girl. I’m man enough to know when I’m being fucking ridiculous, and right now, I’m being very fucking ridiculous.

A few of my players turn to watch her walk. I can’t blame them since I’m still watching her too. Her long blonde hair is in loose waves. Her jeans are tighter than normal and her polo says Bobcats in gold over the chest, making it impossible not to glance right where I shouldn’t.

“Hey, Coach,” McKenzie says as she comes up next to me. I nod my head at her in greeting rather than saying anything. I’m honestly not sure what would come out of my mouth if I tried to talk right now. Not after I pictured her walking toward me in slow motion, her hair blowing in the wind like a fucking Baywatch rerun. Fuck.

“Have a good game.”

She walks back and stands behind the bench with her camera guy and a few other reporters. One of my defensive players, Quinn, goes up to her. I can’t hear what they’re talking about, but she smiles and then tips her head back in laughter. That causes a few of my other players to crowd around them.